The Legislative Branch – Congress in Action

Chapter 12

Congress Organizes

• Congress Convenes usually on January 3rd in odd numbered years.– Opening Day in the House of Representatives• The clerk calls everyone to order and checks the role• Members-to-be choose the Speaker of the House, who

takes the oath of office and then swears in the rest of them• Certain positions are up for election, then they adopt

rules and organize committees

– Opening day in the Senate• Newly elected senators are re-elected senators are sworn

in• Committee vacancies are filled

– Toward the end of January, the President of the U.S. will deliver his annual State of the Union Message. The Constitution requires that he make this speech in which he reports on the state of our nation, outlines his administration’s policies and plans, and may recommend specific legislative actions

• The Presiding Officers– The Speaker of the House, John

Boehner, has two duties• Preside over all sessions• Keep order

– The Speaker may debate and vote on any matter• If he decides to vote, a Speaker

Pro Tem must be appointed temporarily• Usually he only votes to cause a

tie which will kill the bill; or to break a tie. If there is a tie without his vote, he is then required to vote.

– President of the Senate, Joe Biden, is also the Vice President of the U.S.• The Senate President

recognizes members, puts questions to a vote, and may vote only to break a tie• In his absence, the

President Pro Tempore, Patrick Leachy, takes over. He is elected by the Senate and is a member of the majority party.

• Floor Leaders & Other Party Officers– Majority & Minority

Floor Leaders are chosen by their political party, and their assistants are called whips

– The Party Caucus is a closed meeting of each party, in each house, that deals with party organization, selection of floor leaders, and committee membership

Eric Cantor, Majority Floor Leader - House

Nancy Pelosi, Minority Floor Leader - House

Harry Reid, Majority Floor Leader - Senate

Mitch McConnell,Minority Floor Leader - Senate

• Committee Chairpersons– They decide when their committee will meet, which

bills they will consider, whether to hold public hearings, and what witnesses to call

– Seniority Rule – the Senator or Representative with the majority party, with the most years of service in his/her congressional house usually gets to be the committee chairperson.• Defenders of this rule say it ensures experience in key posts

and minimizes party conflict• Critics say there are three problems with Seniority Rule:

– It ignores ability– It discourages young members– It encourages re-election of “stale” members

Committees In Congress

• Standing Committees– Are permanent and handle specific subjects– There are 22 in the House and 16 in the Senate– The Speaker of the House and the President of the

Senate assign bills to the appropriate committee– They are also known as subject-matter committees

• Examples:– House Appropriations Committee (money)– Senate Finance Committee (money)– House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure– Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

• House Rules Committee schedules bills for consideration by the House

• The Majority Floor Leader controls the schedule of bills on the Senate floor

• Select Committees are groups with specific purposes for a limited time and can conduct important investigations

• Joint and Conference Committees– Joint Committees have members from both houses and deal

with issues of common concern. Some are permanent like the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress, but most are temporary

– Conference Committees are temporary. They hash out the differences in a bill when the House passes one version and the Senate another

How a Bill Becomes a Law: The House• Creation and Introduction

– Most begin with the U.S. President, special interest groups, or private citizens– All revenue-raising (tax) bills must begin in the House of Representatives

• Types of Bills & Resolutions– Bills are proposed laws– Joint Resolutions deal with temporary issues, but have the force of law, and

they must be signed by the President of the U.S.– Concurrent Resolutions deal with common concerns of both houses in

Congress, have the force of law, but DO NOT need the U.S. President’s signature

– Resolutions usually deal with rules in one of the houses, and DO NOT need the U.S. President’s signature.

• A Rider may be added to a bill. It is added because it may not pass on it’s on, so it needs to ‘ride on the coattails’ of a bill that will pass.– Most riders are attached to appropriations (money) bills.

• First Reading– Assignment of a House Number– Given a title– Entered into the House Journal and the Congressional Record for

the day– Speaker then sends it to the correct committee

• The Bill in Committee– Subcommittees

• Investigate it• Debate it• Recommend its fate

– After the Subcommittee Work is done, the committee can• Report the bill• Refuse to report the bill, which also means pigeonhole it• Report an amendmened bill• Report it unfavorably• Report a new bill

• Rules & Calendars– Before going to the House floor, a bill must be put on the calendar– Before it can be debated, it must receive a rule

• Bill on the Floor of the House– Most important are considered in the Committee of the Whole– In the House, debate time is limited– Voting – formal House votes on it and any amendments to the bill

• Voice votes are common• Standing votes can be called• 1/5th of a quorum may demand a teller vote• Role-call vote may be demanded 1/5th of the members

• Final Steps– An approved bill is engrossed, read a 3rd time, voted on again, and

signed by the Speaker of the House– A signed bill then goes to the Senate President

The Bill in the Senate & the Final Stages

• Introduction– A bill is introduced by Senators, given a number, read

twice, and then referred to a committee.– Senate committees go through the same steps as a

House committee– If a bill makes it out of a committee, it is then called to

the floor by the majority leader• Senate Rules for Debate– Floor debate is almost unlimited in the Senate– A Filibuster, where a bill is talked to death is possible

– The Cloture Rule• This is the Senate’s check on the filibuster, It limits debate

time, must be signed by 16 senators, then voted on and approved by 3/5th of the full Senate (60 Senators)

• Most senators hesitate to use the Cloture Rule, fearing it will limit free debate and undermine the filibuster technique

• Conference Committee– These involve members from both houses who

meet to iron out the differences when a bill passes each house in different versions

– Conference Committee members are usually the senior, most powerful members and are acceptable to both houses.

• The U.S. President Acts– Once the same version passes both houses, it goes

to the U.S. President– President may do one of four things• Sign it into law• Veto it and kill it• Pocket veto it and kill in in 10 days (if there are 10 or

less days left in the Congressional session)• Ignore it, which will allow it to become a law in 10 days

without his signature.